Hook bracket for a curtain heading



April 11, 1961 Filed Aug. 21. 1959 H. PETZAL 2,978,735

HOOK BRACKET FOR A CURTAIN HEADING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIW INVENTOR.

HENRY PETZAL ATTORNEY April 11, 1961 H. PETZAL HOOK BRACKET FOR A CURTAIN- HEADING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 21. 1959 INVENTOR.

HENRY PETZAL ATTORNEY United States Patent HOOK BRACKET FOR A CURTAIN HEADING Henry Petzal, Shrewsbury, N.J., assignor to Bartmann & lixer, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New ork Filed Aug. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 835,228

7 Claims. c1. 1687.2)

This invention relates to curtain hook supports, and particularly to curtain heading brackets for receiving, in a selected one of several available positions, a rodsupported curtain hook.

Among the important requirements for curtain heading brackets of the said category are (l) closely spaced hook-supporting portions so as to provide fine vertical adjustments for the supported curtain, and (2) secure gripping means for keeping the hooks from moving from their operative positions. In previous attempts to meet these requirements the employment of closely spaced hook-receiving apertures resulted in a weakening of the structure, and the use of frictional gripping means did not always serve to hold the hook fixed in its desired operative position. It is accordingly my objective to provide a bracket support of the above-mentioned category having none of the aforesaid shortcomings, and having the advantages of closely spaced yet structurally strong hook-supporting portions, and provided with positive means for releasably locking the hook in a selected operative position.

Other objects of my invention are the provision of a one-piece structure capable of manufacture by mass production techniques, adapted for ready attachment to the rear of a curtain heading without engaging the pleated portions thereof, capable of operatively receiving a curtain hook in a selected position with a minimum of manual manipulation and without the danger of mutilating the curtain material, and adapted to maintain the hook in an optimum position within a vertical plane.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawings and the description hereinafter given- Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary rear elevation of a curtain heading with the bracket member of my invention operativelyattached in place, a hook member being shown supported by said bracket.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 isasection of Fig. 1 taken. along line 33,

showing the hook member operatively positioned over a curtain rod. p

. Fig. 4 is an enlarged section ofthe'bracket member of Fig. l takenal'ongline 4-4 with the hook'member removed. c

stantially likeFig. 1, showing infull lines the initial in- 9 serted position of the hook member, and showing 'in dotthe initial inserting position showing the hook-in its final operative positions;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section of Fig. 8 taken substantially along line 9-9, the hook being removed.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary section of Fig. 9 taken along line 10-10.

In the form of my invention as illustrated, the bracket, generally designated 15, is operatively secured to the curtain heading 16 containing the pleated section 17 which comprises the three folds 18, 19 and 20 secured together by a line of stitching 21 (Fig. 2). It is preferred that the material of the bracket 15 be of a suitable thin plastic that could either be sewed, adhesively secured or heat-sealed to the heading material 16 by methods known to those skilled in the art.

The said bracket 15 comprises the two laterally opposite flanges 22 and 23 flanking the medial raised portion 24, the latter providing the longitudinal passageway 25 for accommodating the shank of a conventional curtain hook member, as will more clearly hereinafter appear. It is preferred that the said flanges 22 and 23 be flat and positioned in one plane, so that such flanges may readily and effectively be applied against the rear surface 26 of the heading member 16-preferably in the region of a pleated section 17, the raised portion 24 being directly therebehind, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. In the form of my invention as illustrated, said medial raised portion'24 has its rearmost wall 27 of flat configuration the laterally opposite walls 28 and 29 together with said rearmost .wall 27 giving said medial raised portion 24 a generally channel-like form.

Within said rear wall 27 are a plurality of inclined overlapping slotted portions generally designated 31. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, there are two vertical banks of. slots, the slots of one bank bearing the reference numeral 31a being parallel and sloping in one direction, and those of the other bank bearing the reference numeral 31b being also parallel and sloping in another directionthe slots in each bank being in vertical alignment. It is preferred that all the slots intersect the center line 32 of the member 15, so as to provide the aforesaid overlapping arrangement of slots.

On the forward surface 30 of said rear wall 27 are two longitudinally extending, slightly elevated protuberances forming the ribs 33 and 3i-,these ribs flanking the said center line 32 and being in suchspaced relation as to be able to accommodate therebetween the shank 35 of the curtain hook member 36, as illustratedin Figs. 1, 2 and 6. The said hook member 36 is of the'conventional type in which the upper crown portion '37 .is adapted to rest upon a curtain rod 38 (see Fig. 3), said .hook member. having a knee orbent portion 32 which the selected position of the hook being dependent upon the desired position of the bottom of the curtain (not shown) with respect tothe fioor'or the windows The first step in inserting the hook is illustrated in Fig. 6

showing the position of the' shank duringthe initial inserting operation. it will be observed that the shank is turned in the direction of the inclinationof the slo'tlvlb;

and since the said slot is of elongatedconfiguration, there.

is sufficient room to permit said shank to'be readily inserted therein. The distancefbetween tliedateralwalls 28 and 2915f the medial portion- 24 is such that the shank will be accommodated betweensaid walls in the inclined position illustrated inFig. 7, the" point 1490f the -hookibeing adjacent the lateral wall 28.

line 8-43, 7

-l"he: next step is to'turnithe hook and at the same time ..move it upwardly within: the slot, the;;shank SE35 -'-riding' I over. the :rib 33 seelF ig. 6) ;until.it.enters into the lonj i -material of the heading.

gitudinal channel 41'formed by said ribs 3-3 and 34. V

The said respective ribs have a plurality of inclined recessed portions 33a and 34a spaced therealong and disposed adjacent the correspondingly positioned slotted portions '31, thereby enabling the lower portion of the shank '35 to readily ride over-the rib during its operative movement into (and out of) said channel 41. The upward movement of the hook 36 is continued until the lower loop portionAZ of the hook engages the uppermost terminal wall 43 of-the slot,at' which point it is in its final operative position, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, 8. The hook is not only held against further upward movement, but is also prevented from sliding down to thebottom of the slot, firstly because-the said ribs 33 and 34 hold the shank in .a vertical position, and secondly because the lower inclined wall portion 44-of the slot serves as a positive stop to the vertically positioned shank. Moreover the positions of the slotted portions 31 are so predetermined that when *the hook member 36 is in its uppermost operative position, the said knee 39 will be positioned against the solidrwall portion 45 of the rear wall 27, whereby said section 45 is frictionally gripped between the said knee 39 and shank 35 of the hook member 36. It is thus evident that once the hook is brought to its uppermost operative position at a selected portion of the bracket, it is firmly locked in that position until deliberately released by manual manipulation.

The manual release of the hook is effected by rotating the hook to one side, whereby the shank 35 is moved over and beyond the rib 33 to an inclined position, thereby permitting a sliding movement of the hook downwardly along the inclined slot 3111, as illustrated in Fig. 6. When the hook is in the lower position illustrated in Fig. 6 it can be readily removed by a simple pull.

From the above description of the manner of inserting the hook member, it is apparent that the shank can readily be kept out of contact with the heading 16, so that the point 40 of the shank will not multilate the The distance between the lateral walls 28 and 29' of the raised medial portion 24 is such that there is ample room for the full lateral inclined movement of the shank 35. There is no need, as a is required in other constructions, to force the shank forwardly out of contact with the said Wall 27; nor is there any needtofiex the bracket member so as to keep theshank out of engagement with the heading material.

The entire operationvof inserting the hook and bringing it to its upper operative position can thus be effected without the-danger of multilating the fabric of'the heading. Due to the staggered arrangement of the oppositely sloping slots 31:: and 31b and to their overlapping disposition, it is possible to have comparatively closely spaced operative positions for selectively positioning the hook. By specific reference to Fig fl, it willbe seen that the upper limiting terminals of adjacent slots are,

separated by distances represented by the letter A-these distances representingthe effective. operative pitch of the slots. 7 And it will be observed that theup-per terminal 43a of each t slots 31a issubstantially at thesame level asi'thelower terminal d6 of the adjacent slot 31h. It is evident that if it were desired to ha'vethe advantages of longitudinal slots (for efiecting the easy insertion of the it can readily be assembled with a minimum of effort and cost.

In the above description, the invention has been disclosed merely by way of example and in preferred manner, but obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited -to--any specific form or manner of practicing the same, except insofar as such limita tions are specified in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A'hookbracketfor attachment to a'curtainheading and for operatively supporting a curtain hook memher having a shank portion, a hook portion and a bottom loop portion connecting said-shank and hook portions, said bracket including a first-portion for securement thereof to said heading, and a second portion for receiving and supporting said shank portion, said second portion comprising a longitudinally extending wall area having a plurality of slotted: portions upwardly inclined with respect to the longitudinal medial portion of said 'wall and proportioned to receive therein the shank of said hook member, the upper terminals of adjacent slotted portions when in operative position being spaced apart .vertically, a distance at least no greater than the length of a slot, whereby said curtain heading is provided with smaller vertical increments of adjustment as the said loop portion is moved between adjacent upper slot terminals for seating engagement with the respective terminals.

tion forming an inner channel communicating with said slotted portions and proportionedto accommodate therein the said shank of the hook member when it is operatively disposed within a selected one of said slotted portions, and retaining means Within said channel positioned for engaging said shank when it is operatively disposed in the longitudinal direction of said channel.

4. A hook bracket for attachment to a curtain heading and for'operatively supporting a curtain hook memiber having a shank portion, a hook portion and a bottom loop portion connecting said shank-and hook-por- M tions, said bracketincluding a first portion for securehook), andgif; the slots were longitudinally disposed in I accordance with conventional practice, the upper and lower terminals of adjacent slots would have' tobe in yertically spaced relation, and separated suffieiently to ,provide material for giving structural, strength to the member. It-isonly because of the ingenious inclined and overlapping slot relationship of this invention that the upper terminalsof the slots can be placed comparatively close togethervfor fine curtain adjustments, without impairing the structural strength of the bI'flCk6lZ:.

..It is also evident that thec'onstruction ofhe bracket {can readily her-fabricated by mass production techniques; and since' the entiredevice is of oneapiece construction,

ment thereof to said heading, and a second portion for receiving and supporting said shank portion, said second portion comprising a longitudinally extending wall area having two'banks of slotted portions upwardly inclined :With respect tothe longitudinal medial portion of said wall, the slotted portions of one bank being inclined upwardly and laterally inxone direction'and the slottedpor- 'tions of the other hank being inclined upwardlyand laterally in: the opposite direction, the oppositely; inclined slotted portions of said banks being in staggered relation, said slottedi portions being proportioned to receive-therein theshank of said hook member, the

upper terminals of adjacent slotted portions when .in op- 'erative position being spaced apa'1't.vertically,a distance at least no greater than the lengthof aislot, whereby said curtain heading is provided withsmaller vertical increments'tof .1 adjustment as the said loop portionlis moved between adjacent upper slot terminalsaforfseating 5 engagement :with the respective terminals.

5. 'A ho'ok'bracket according to claim 4,. the slotted portions of each bank being insubstantial longitudinal l alignment. v l t i,

6. A book bracket for attachment to a curtain heading and for operatively supporting a curtain hook member having a shank portion, 'ajhook portion and a bottom loop portion; connecting rsaidsshankltandehook portions,

said bracket including a first portion for securement thereof to said heading, and a second portion for receiving and supporting said shank portion, said second portion comprising a longitudinally extending wall area having a plurality of slotted portions upwardly inclined with respect to the longitudinal medial portion of said wall, and a longitudinal retaining rib on the inner surface of said wall, said slotted portions being proportioned to receive therein the shank of said hook member, the upper terminals of adjacent slotted portions when in operative position being spaced apart vertically, a distance at least no greater than the length of a slot, whereby said curtain heading is provided with smaller vertical increments of adjustment as the said loop portion is moved between adjacent upper slot terminals for seating engagement with the respective terminals, said retaining rib being positioned for engaging said shank when it is operatively disposed in the direction of the longitudinal extent of said wall.

7. A hook bracket for attachment to a curtain heading and for operatively supporting a curtain hook member having a shank portion, a hook portion and a bottom loop portion connecting said shank and hook portions, comprising two oppositely disposed flanges adapted for securement to said heading and an intermediate longitudinal channel-like hook-supporting portion, said latter portion comprising a rear wall and two laterally opposite side walls joined to said flanges and defining an inner channel, said rear wall having therein two banks of slotted portions upwardly inclined with respect to the longitudinal medial portion of said wall, the slotted portions of one bank being inclined upwardly and laterally in one direction and the slotted portions of the other bank being inclined upwardly and laterally in the opposite direction, said slotted portions being proportioned to receive therein the shank of said hook member, the upper terminals of adjacent slotted portions when in operative position being spaced apart vertically, a distance at least no greater than the length of a slot, whereby said curtain heading is provided with smaller vertical increments of adjustment as the said loop portion is moved between adjacent upper slot terminals for seating engagement with the respective terminals, the inner surface of said rear wall having two spaced longitudinal retaining ribs extending in intersecting relation to said slotted portions and being positioned for retaining therebetween said shank when it is operatively disposed in the direction of the longitudinal extent of said rear wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,863,638 Richter June 21, 1932 2,115,593 Strube Apr. 26, 1938 2,147,910 Martin Feb. 21, 1939 

